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The folks behind the Gene Lucas Community Center recently released a series of conceptual images showcasing the potential look of the long-planned Fortuna Aquatic Center, featuring a community swimming pool under a retractable domed ceiling.

The project, which will be financed by the nonprofit McLean Foundation, got the green light in February from that foundation’s board as well as the board of the Eel River Valley Community Center Foundation (ERVCCF). The facility will be located on the McLean Campus, 3000 Newburg Road between the Gene Lucas Community Center and the Humboldt Senior Resource Center. 

ERVCCF Vice President Lauren Correll told the Times-Standard in February that the pool will be just five feet deep due to the site’s location and geology. [CORRECTION: An employee at the Community Center reached out with good news: The depth has changed! The pool’s depth will range from 3.5 to 7 feet.] Correll added that plans include the ability to open and close not only the ceiling but all sides of the enclosure (called a natatorium). 

This will allow for year-round usage. “It will also save costs with heating with the moisture in the air…so instead of a building that encloses a pool, we will have this open ventilation system that just uses nature,” Correll told the TS. 

“After decades of our community wanting a local pool, it is so exciting to finally see what is coming!” the Fortuna Aquatic Center announced on its dedicated Facebook page on Thursday. 

The announcement adds:

Official project renderings were completed by Ontiveros & Associates. Images marked “AI” were created by placing the project renderings onto photographs of the McLean Campus to help show the planned location. The final facility and site may vary slightly from what is shown.

The rest of the renderings are reproduced below. For more information, click on over to the Gene Lucas Community Center website.